Don Bollywood Movie Reviews

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Isha Koppiker, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Arjun Rampal
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Rating: * 1/2

"Don ko pakadna mushqil hi nahin, namumkin bhi hai". (It's not just difficult to catch Don, it's impossible).

You could say that again! Farhan Akhtar, who once made one of Indian cinema's path breakers "Dil Chahta Hai", slips into a gamine groove to recreate Salim-Javed's script from the original film of the same name.

Let's not play the blame game. But whosoever thought a slicker version of the clever 1978 script would work better when packaged in gallons of gloss has a vision that just stops short of being audacious.

This is a cheeky and chic homage to the earlier "Don". It goes to places the earlier film couldn't have dreamt of.

The film opens unnecessarily in Paris and quickly moves to Kuala Lumpur where the narrative stays put as Farhan tries to put across the story of Don, his doppelganger Vijay, the vendetta-oriented Roma (Priyanka Chopra) and Jasjeet (Arjun Rampal).

Priyanka fumes as though she had taken lessons in feminine fury from Zeenat Aman in the earlier "Don". Rampal frets and limps as though he had watched Pran in the original flick really hard.

And Shah Rukh is the twin-faced imp-cum-ogre - he snarls, sneers and taunts as he takes the role as away from Bachchan's role as humanly possible.

It isn't a performance. It's a bouquet of over-the-top expressions designed to showcase the star's ability to get the better of his character.

The narrative is very straight and razor-sharp. The confusion of identity is given a psychological twist in this re-interpreted tale of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Outwardly, this revisionist version of Chandra Barot's "Don" is slicker than anything Farhan or his chic ilk have ever attempted.

But at times you feel the slickness really gets to you. The film's outstanding topographical and technical detailing hampers the audiences' journey towards the characters.

There's not one emotionally moving sequence - neither when the sizzling Kamini (Kareena Kapoor) dances before Don to avenge her fiancé's murder nor when Roma (Priyanka) takes to martial arts and guns to avenge the death of her brother.

Coldness grips the heart of this stylish motion picture. Farhan deconstructs the clever tale of glorified-gangsterism. The neo-Don increases the glam-quotient in crime beyond anything we've seen in Hindi cinema. Makes you wonder what happened to the good old morality tale?

"Don" is dangerously revisionist in its tempting overview of good and evil. Some fight scenes are so heart-in-the-mouth that their sole aim seems to be making Shah Rukh romance the rugged Malaysian hinterland.

There's no sexual frisson between Shah Rukh and Priyanka. They combat one another intellectually and physically without getting too close for comfort.

But Kareena can drive audiences crazy in the brief number "Yeh mera dil" with her radiant presence.

The background score is minimalist and the sound design portrays silences with as much reverence as the screech of rubber on roads. But the elaborately choreographed songs and dances seem to be done in the spirit of doomed desperation.

And yes "Khai ke paan benarawas wala" which carried the original "Don" to another level of excitement, misses the point completely over here. No one can chew paan (betel leaf) and jive the way Bachchan did in the original.

Don't even look for that feeling here. Farhan Akhtar wants us to escape into a realm of repressed rage and ravishing violence. So where's the question of punishment?

Let's look at this way. The other Don was a rapid-fire morality tale. This one is a slow-burn amorality tale, spiced up with mellow aromatic scents and creates a mood that's distinctly and pungently futuristic.

Don gets full marks for packaging. So much so that the content defines itself through its sleek surface.

Umrao Jaan

Film: Umrao Jaan
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Puru Raj Kumar, Suniel Shetty
Director: J.P. Dutta
Rating: ***1/2

In one of the countless visuals of stunning resonance, Aishwarya, playing the doomed and poetic tawaif (courtesan) Umrao Jaan Adaa, travels through a burning field of crops. "The crops have been reaped, now the fields are being burnt for good luck next year," explains a co-passenger.

That one gloriously revealing moment captures the sublime pathos that coloured the life and times of 19th century Lucknow's famed courtesan, who in her words is a "badnasibi ki misaal" (the classic example of misfortune).

We've seen Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh in several Hindi films ranging from Muzaffar Ali's "Umrao Jaan" to Chandan Arora's "Main Meri Patni Aur Woh". But the city and its surrounding topography have never looked more vivid.

Perched between the world within a kotha (brothel) and the outer world of growing deceit and betrayal, the story of little Ameeran's journey from her quaint and happy family life to the Kotha is mapped in lucid, flamboyant and sometimes muted colours of utter enchantment.

J.P. Dutta, along with cinematographer Aynanka Bose, takes us on a pilgrimage through Umrao's inner and outer landscape creating perfect visuals to portray her predicament as a 'fallen woman' forever rising above her destiny.

What lifts this "Umrao Jaan" far above the 1978 version is its sense of imminent historicity. While the original stopped just after the doomed woman returns to the comforting yet claustrophobic space of the kotha, Dutta's narrative moves forward, carving a socio-historical perspective for his protagonist in a Lucknow going through a bloody turmoil, as its cultural legitimacy is questioned and mocked by the British Raj.

The film's most memorable sequence is when the kotha's practical and yet emotional madame (Shabana Azmi) packs off her endangered girls and stays on in the brothel - a solitary figure standing over the looming architecture as a symbol of unaccompanied bravery.

Shabana's histrionics are awe-inspiring, comparable with her mother Shaukat's performance in the same role in Muzaffar Ali's film.

"Umrao Jaan" must not be allowed to be a victim of cynical readings. Its statement, comparing the woman's heart to a railway station, where any man can stop to while away time, has a resonance way beyond the time-zones Dutta creates within his lengthy but satisfying work of art.

The ambience of the kotha is superbly re-created by art director Bijon Dasgupta. But Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography lets down the courtesans' tale. It fails to evoke the sensuous grace that Rai is capable of. Too much of Javed Akhtar's evocative lyrics are expressed in hand movements.

There's a great deal of warmth in the crisscross of relationships that the screenplay creates. Umrao's rapport with her surrogate father in the brothel, played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, is truly special.

Aishwarya imbues a sense of luminosity into Umrao's all-giving nature. As Umrao, she's remarkably vulnerable and gentle, trying to safeguard her interests emotionally rather than instinctively.

Her two key romantic sequences with Abhishek Bachchan convey a feeling of bridled anxiety but are felled by their inordinate length. They needed to be curtailed and streamlined. The same applies to the plethora of mujras (dance sequences) - all gracefully performed by the resplendent Rai, but monotonous for their frequency and genre-specificity.

Anu Malik's music and Alka Yagnik's singing go a long way in evoking the poetic tragedy of a woman who craves to break free from her destiny.

"Umrao Jaan" is remarkable for recreating the rhythms of a charming though lost culture through the pacy movements of the tawaif's feet, though the choreography does restrict the Aishwarya's swan-like agility.

The film also gives space to lesser-known actors like Puru Raj Kumar, who is splendid as Umrao's roguish in-house suitor at the kotha, and Divya Dutta melts your heart in the one important sequence that the script allows her.

Abhishek Bachchan, as the tormented, torn and yet restrained Nawab, is a portrait of bridled intensity. That little smirk in the corner of his mouth or that almost-invisible twinkle in his eye - these nuances show how much Bachchan junior has evolved.

For creating an "Umrao Jaan", who stays in our hearts, and for giving Aishwarya Rai yet another memorable role, J.P. Dutta must take a bow.

Vivah

Film: "Vivah"
Cast: Shahid Kapur, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Alok Nath, Seema Biswas, Samir Soni
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Rating: ***

Sooraj Barjatya rectifies all the mistakes he made in his first two historic hits "Maine Pyar Kiya" and "Hum Aapke Hain Koun". The sweet coyness and almost-unbearable bonhomie of his earlier films are replaced by a far more fluent and fertile imagination in "Vivah" which nurtures Barjatya's idealistic, almost utopian view of a joint family.

Gone is the amateurish home-video feel to Barjatya's earlier familial epics. Yes, there's plenty of singing but blessedly little dancing in the long but satisfying drama of domesticated courtship.

The simple charm of the boy-meets-girl story is laced with untold moments of absolute enchantment.

In his typical fashion, Barjatya weaves together special moments between the couple as they move in and out of the domestic flock. Thankfully the joint family is kept at a far more manageable level here than in his earlier movies.

There are no irksome broods of uncles and aunts who fill up screen space and the couple in love gets ample breathing space to let their mutual feelings grow in leisurely grace.

The old-world charm of an arranged marriage is depicted well by the lead pair (Shahid and Amrita) who go through the mellow motions of falling in love similar to the adventure of an unexplored journey.

The external detailing of a small dusty town near Delhi is done skilfully - the crowded gullies, urchins running after Prem's (Shahid) car when he visits his in-laws-to-be, the sweet seller's shop and the night-time bustle compounded by distant sounds of old Hindi film songs. Art director Sanjay Dhabade's work is excellent.

The director's sincerity of purpose shines through in every shot of the crowded but genial gully. Alok Nath has a perennial warm smile towards his surrogate daughter Poonam (Amrita) and Seema Biswas does the balancing act between a shrewd step-mom and a practical mother.

The enchanting relations between these characters, with a chirpy little sister (newcomer Amrita Prakash) thrown in for sisterly solidarity, are delightful.

But there's more here. Barjatya takes hold of all the strands of bustling emotions and harnesses it into a narrative that is polished and absorbing.

Every component of his vision holds together with remarkable fluency. The dialogues are in fluent but understandable Hindi and talk about values that seem to have been lost in the melee of ruthless ambitions in big cities.

The film takes us back to small pleasures like the bride and bridegroom's families sleeping on the floor, playing games together, their friendly banter and mutual respect.

But an unholy fire creates a crisis in the last half-hour. That's when Sooraj Barjatya shows effectually how much he has matured as a creative artist.

The sequence where Prem marries Poonam as she struggles between life and death in her hospital bed is an expression of the purest form of romance. The drama at the end is handled with tremendous care.

"Vivah" is about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of commitment between two individuals. Yes, the central romance is naively visualised. But the sneaked-in romantic moments between the to-be-married couple and their stubborn resistance to modern courtship games makes you crave for the idealism that Barjatya portrays.

There is no physical intimacy between the two beyond a touch and no e-mail or mobile connectivity.

"Vivah" is a delicately structured romance between a couple that decides to fall in love after their marriage has been decided by their parents. The supporting cast led by Anupam Kher and Alok Nath as loving and amicable fathers-in-law adds to the central romance.

The film predictably concludes with the marriage and the groom, on the wedding night, tells his new bride who suffers from burn injuries: "Come let me do your dressing."

Apna Sapna Money Money

Film: "Apna Sapna Money Money"
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra, Shreyas Talpade, Riya Sen, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav
Director: Sangeeth Sivan
Rating: *

Looking at the bright side, this comedy is decidedly less vulgar and suggestive than director Sangeeth Sivan's earlier "Kya Kool Hain Hum". That, if one may say so, was the pits. Mercifully, there are no cat-humping jokes to boost the chuckle quotient in "Apna Sapna Money Money".

What the plot lacks in innovativeness, it makes up with a certain breathless momentum and crass candour that's meant to drive audiences into over-the-top gear. And never mind the finer sensitivities. At least the cats are left alone this time.

The story about a run for precious diamonds gives Riteish Deshmukh - a fine, if somewhat dull, actor - a chance to try out numerous get-ups, including a drag act that is dead on.

Riteish sinks his teeth into the job at hand with more than passing interest. Alas, the material provided to sustain his skills at role changing is so slim, you wonder which came first, the farce or the flair that he dares to air.

Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav provide a comic consistency to the proceedings that tend to get cock-eyed. Rajpal's take-off on Amitabh Bachchan from "Sarkar" would've been funny if it wasn't so put on.

To their credit, all the actors - male and female - have themselves a whale of a time. So much so that after a while you begin to feel guilty for casting a cynical eye on what's finally meant to be nothing but an innocuous farce fest. To that extent, "...Money Money" gives you your money's worth.

Especially rib tickling are the scenes where Riteish (constantly poker-faced and solemn in his satirical stabs) is wooed by Anupam. The twosome isn't quite Kamal Haasan-Amrish Puri in "Chachi 420", but does anyone really expect this farce to live up to any standards other than those set by "Masti", "Malaamal Weekly" and "Phir Hera Pheri"?

Just one word of advice for those who expect some laughs - your belly won't ache. Though going by the level of noise pollution, your ears sure will.

As for the stretched-out comic season that started with Indra Kumar's "Masti" two years ago.... its enough already!

Dhoom 2

Film: "Dhoom 2"
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Uday Chopra
Rating: ***

Clever ... very clever. That's the impression you come away with from this sumptuous package of gloss, glamour, glitter and oomph quotient.

If you've seen the first instalment of "Dhoom", you would know Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra carry forward their characters. And that's not an easy thing to do.

Abhishek is saddled with an aura of solemnity while everyone else has a rollicking time.

Make no mistake. "Dhoom 2" is about letting your hair down as far as it can go. The carnival-like atmosphere is carried all the way to Brazil where the sweaty tropical mood is imbibed into the characters as they play an ambivalent game of cat and mouse.

Yes, there are the law-enforcers and the law-breakers. But how do we tell them apart?

Certainly not by the glamour quotient, which is, applied to the antagonist Aryan (Hrithik) and his moll Sunehri (Aishwarya) far more intently than the cop-hero Jai (Abhishek) and his sidekick Ali (Uday Chopra).

And if you add Bipasha's double role to the heady brew, you've got a film that's the equivalent of a glossy calendar.

The film moves from Mumbai to Brazil in undulating movements and fuses furious action and svelte skin-show in a mix that leaves you dizzy.

Movies were never meant to be so heady, unsteady and ready to rock. Aishwarya's doll-like movements in the song "Crazy kiya re" drive one crazy indeed.

The fast-paced and superbly crafted moments of aerial and ground stunts are all centred on the one and only Hrithik. "Dhoom 2" is bigger, brighter, sexier and sassier than the earlier film.

Director Sanjay Gadhvi doesn't try to please the audience. A sense of renewed and engaging déjà vu is created by the film's own volition.

All the chutzpah and chirpy glamour from the first film is back with loads of oomph. The storytelling careens from the downright clownish courtship (Bipasha and Uday Chopra) to the outright passionate.

Aishwarya and Hrithik are arguably the best-looking couple Bollywood has ever seen. They look good and vibe so beautifully together.

The light falls just right on each actor. I can't think of one film since "Sholay" that has showcased a bunch of top-notch actors in a more flattering light. Bipasha's double role as a no-nonsense Mumbai cop and a sexy Brazilian girl is a little absurd.

Abhishek lends his solemn cop's role a kind of edgy intolerance that makes him just right to counter the "perfect thief" played by Hrithik Roshan.

The film belongs to Hrithik. What an actor, what a dancer, what a screen presence! In a vital love sequence with Aishwarya, Hrithik displays controlled inner and outer movements as the international thief who shows the desperate anxiety of a lover.

Hrithik implements the series of heists in a spirit of twinkle-eyed mischief. When the crime-caper turns into an intense love story, you marvel at the actor's ability of taking the plot from one level of engaging diversion to another without losing the rhythm pattern that governs the narration.

The film, however, never goes over the top in pursuit of stunts and thrills.

The Aishwarya-Hrithik chemistry puts the film's mood into a humane perspective. The two anti-socials look into each other's smouldering eyes, whisper about love, life and food to each other, play basketball together and even exchange an intense kiss.

At the end of it all, we're left gasping for breath. Hrithik, Aishwarya and the rest of the cast look bronzed and sweaty... the heat is a killer.

Of course there have been other more well thought-out capers. But has there ever been a caper as good-looking as "Dhoom 2"? Has Aishwarya ever looked and acted more authentically in any of her masala films? Has Hrithik ever given more substantial proof of his magnetic star power? Has Abhishek had a bigger chance to act in a film where's his male co-star gets the author-backed role?

The answer to all the questions is a big no.

"Dhoom 2" is a slick flick with stunts that flatter Hrithik's star presence, only to deceive the audience into believing it's all very easy.

This is a film that makes the big-screen spectacle look jovial and casual. The gruelling glamour of a stunt-driven drama has never been more fluently placed before us.